An agronomist, a beef farmer, and a dairy farmer walk into a bar . . . or in this case, the breakout session at the Midwest Forage Association Symposium. What ensued during the panel discussion last month in Wisconsin Dells, Wis., wasn’t the punchline of a joke, but rather a running list of the best forage-related decisions each of them has made on their respective operations.
Best cropping decisions
Mark Hockel is the master agronomist with Eagle Ag Consulting in Windom, Minn., and primarily works with Riverview Dairy and its nearly 250 custom operators. When it comes to establishing forage on the company’s several operations located throughout the Midwest and High Plains, he said using a drill with an opening disk and a press wheel has proven to be critical.
The second best forage-related decision Hockel has made on behalf of Riverview Dairy has been seeding reduced-lignin alfalfa. Doing so has extended their average cutting window from about 22 days to 28 days, which has allowed them to realize better forage yields without compromising forage quality.
“There’s a lot to be said for giving alfalfa more time to recover its root reserves,” Hockel said. “By giving that longer cut schedule, the life span of our alfalfa has really taken off.”
Rounding out his top three best decisions, Hockel said conducting two-year trials of different corn hybrids has significantly improved Riverview Dairy’s silage program, especially considering the range growing environments its operations encompass.
“That has really moved the needle for each of those geographies and understanding what hybrids work best for each field,” Hockel said about the on-farm research. He has found that nitrogen applications to corn — specifically manure applications — have been the greatest factor separating top-performing hybrids.
Best beef decisions
Dan Miller of Valley Angus Farm in Spring Valley, Minn., grows about 1,200 acres of alfalfa, corn, and soybeans, with about one-third of these fields being organic. The best decision he has made from the forage harvesting standpoint has been investing in a bale wrapper.
Growing cover crops like winter rye and camelina has been another positive decision on his operation. Miller harvests these cover crops for hay and grazes them, creating paddocks with high-tensile fence that contain water tanks for cattle.
Planting brown mid-rib (BMR) corn for silage was the third item on Miller’s list of best decisions, although he added that genomic testing his cattle herd has become an integral practice on his farm as well.
Best dairy decisions
Tom Kestell owns Ever-Green-View Dairy in Waldo, Wis. About a decade ago, he raised his corn silage chopping height to 34 inches. Although this might leave some tonnage in the field, he said it has improved his dairy rations and overall profits more than any other decision he has made on the farm.
“My nutritionist called it an epiphany,” Kestell said. “We decided that we were just hauling undigestible material in to the cows and then hauling it back out as manure.” Since the stalk typically holds more water than the rest of the plant, he added that it has been necessary to start chopping corn silage at a higher moisture than he did when using a lower cut height.
To combat lake-effect precipitation living on the west coast of Lake Michigan, Kestell has also switched to primarily making baleage instead of dry hay. This has eliminated the risk of rain damage and provided a more consistent product while streamlining the harvest process.
“It’s helped a lot in planning our chopping and getting the job done with high-quality feed,” Kestell said.
His third best decision has been exclusively seeding alfalfa in late summer after a wheat harvest instead of in the spring. Kestell said soil moisture is more conducive and there is less weed pressure this time of year. Upping his seeding rate by 2 to 3 pounds per acre has also proven to be effective in establishing a robust alfalfa stand.
“That’s a very small investment for having a superior stand versus a mediocre stand,” he stated.
